16 Lovers Lane

The clouds are here
They aren't up in the sky.
I cupped them with my hands
And reached up high.

I said to these clouds,
"no more am i blind.
I have to see straight
And that will make me unkind."

Visions of blue,
I'm angry, i'm wise.
And you, you're under cloudy skies.

Blue air i crave, blue air i breathe
They once chopped my heart the way you chop a tree.
Told to equate achievement with pain
I took their top prize and paid them back with rain.

Visions of blue
I'm angry i'm wise and you.
You're under cloudy skies.

Blue air i crave blue air i breathe
They once chopped my heart the way you chop a tree.
Told to equate achievement with pain
I stole their top prize and paid them back with rain.

Visions of blue i'm angry i'm wise and you.
You're under cloudy skies. visions of blue
Preverse and strong and you.
You're under cloudy skies.
What i did once i now do everyday.

You can have hearing loss when you're
Boyfriend says he's boss you're scared of
A new endeavour. what can be tempting
You? who can be tempting you, you
Look like a winter.
You can't say no forever you can't say
No forever. i've tried.

Run! if you have to run up to the mountain
Air a writer's retreat maybe. sheltered
And lonely there a fireplace and a rocking
Chair you understand me.
You can't say no forever you can't say
No forever. i've tried.

You can't say no in december as the trees
Lined the drive. i'm sure your family
Remembers me by your side.

Night! as your clothes discard he asks
Was your day hard you can barely answer
"yes my world's
Tumbling down
Stone by stone
To the ground"
Please take out the garbage.

You can't say no in december a piano
Played by a child's hand drifts over the
Verandah and i'm your man.

You can't say no forever. you can't say
No forever. you can't say no forever.
You can't say no forever.
I've tried and i know why.

I'm ten feet under water
Standing in a sunken canoe
Looking up at the waterlillies
They're green and violet blue
Still the sun it finds
A place to light me
Still the sun it finds
That it's warm beside me.

Green and violet blue
No matter what you say no matter what
You do
I want to be the one and
Love is a sign.

The letters that were writing
Baby they just break our hearts
And when we get back together again
There's just no time to start.
No time to restore
It's all on the ground
What you've been doing
Against what i've found.
And this is what i find
No matter what you say no matter what
You do
I want to be the one and
Love is a sign.

I'm not a playboy or a poet
There's no cool water from the well
I wish you had a big house
And that your work would start to sell.
Wave after wave
Our tension and our tenderness.
Wave after wave
Our tension and our tenderness.
Green and violet blue
No matter what you say no matter what
You do
I want to be the one and
Love is a sign.

I know i'll see you again
The world is too big or too small.
I won't be the madman then
It will be me that's come to call.
Me in freezing weather
Snow cuffs on my wrist.
You down by the river
London no longer exists.
This is what i find
No matter what you say no matter what
You do
I want to be the one and
Love is a sign.

Chorus
Round and round, up and down
Everyday i make my way
Through the streets of your town

Don't the sun look good today?
But the rain is on its way
Watch the butcher shine his knives
And this town is full of battered wives.

Chorus

I ride your river under the bridge
I take your boat out to the reach
Cos i love that engine roar
But i still don't hnow what i'm here for.

Chorus

They shut it down
They closed it down
They shut it down
They pulled it down.

Chorus

She comes home and she's happy
She comes home and shes blue
She comes home and she tells him
Listen baby were through
I don't know what happened next
All i know is she moved
Packed up her bags and her curtains
Left him in his room
Was there anything i could do?

She went out with her paint box
Paints the chapel blue
She went out with her matchsticks
Torched a carwash too
I don't know where she's living
All i've got is a card
A picture of her at the pyramids
A knife held to her heart
Was there anything i could do?

She came down from the mountains
Said goodbye to her guru
She went back to her room
Lost herself in voodoo
I don't say that i blame her
People don't know what they want
If you spend your life looking behind you
You don't see what's up front
Was there anything i could do?

Putting out her fire
Putting out her fire