The Lyric Poetry of Greg Greenway "Hate is a chain with a prisoner at both ends"

Here I sit, about midnight,
nowhere near where I was about noon.
Close my eyes and go riding
on the back of a thoroughbred tune.
Let it roll, let it thunder,
let everything you like come to mind,
for we are all but simple soldiers
open and charging the line.

And now with all the distant places,
well within my borders of concern,
how can I keep my concentration
with so much waiting there to learn.
Let it roll, let it thunder,
let everything you like come to mind,
for we are all but simple soldiers
open and charging the line.

Day by day, year by year,
day by day, year by year,
we have all come to live with our fear.

And so to all the gentle people,
keep up the courage to survive,
with all the world around demanding,
give up your dreams just to provide.
Let it roll, let it thunder,
let everything you like come to mind,
for we are all but simple soldiers
open and charging the line.

for we are all but simple soldiers
naked and dying with time,

Day by day, year by year,
day by day, year by year,
we have all come to live with our fear.

Tennessee sat down at her piano,
her hands lay there so gently and light.
With far away eyes she stared into the dimness,
and played me a day in her life.
Of boats on a crystal green lake in Kentucky,
sails unfurled, swolen in the wind,
and the freedom she felt
and the space all around her,
and the feeling of life rushing in.

Tennessee, even after you had come and gone
I needed your laughter for so long
I won’t believe, I won’t see you again, Tennessee.

Tennesse, things go so quickly now,
you turn your head and the days just pass you by.
There’s so little time and so much confusion,
people don’t know where to try

Tennessee, even after you had come and gone
I needed your laughter for so long
I won’t believe, I won’t see you again, Tennessee.

These sun washed days have brought a whispering intrusion,
voices from the distance finding their way home,
from days with desire so fiercely in confusion.
Times when I was first out on my own.

Tennessee sat down at her piano.
I asked her why it had been so long since she had played.
She said the music had turned into notes upon the pages,
she could not stand to play it that way

Tennessee, even after you had come and gone
I needed your laughter for so long
I won’t believe, I won’t see you again, Tennessee.

The thruway was nestled in November snow,
the last leaves clung to New England.
This elaborate dance we’ve been doing
these nights
is a long journey to freedom.

Passion dance, I am a lover tonight,
passion dance. And all that I feel is revolving inside
in a lone passion dance.

With the sun sinking west, we drive our
way east, headlong into darkness.
Pursuing a vision, an old childhood dream,
a far light in a forest.

Passion dance, I am a lover tonight,
passion dance. And all that I feel is revolving inside
in a lone passion dance.

Passion dance, I am a lover tonight,
passion dance. And all that I feel is revolving inside
in a lone passion dance.

The days are growing longer,
there’s a warm breeze coming on,
something inside seems to come alive,
singing a summer song.

Hola, Maria. Show me that soft smooth skin.
It’s mystical rite on a warm gusty night.
I hardly know where to begin.

La la la...

The sun is growing stronger,
we’ve got every reason to smile.
The child in me, feels so frisky and free,
I hope he can stay for a while.

La la la...

It’s been so long since I’ve seen a day like today,
so long, gonna throw these clothes so far away.

I had a friend like the winter,
with a clear winter day in her eyes.
Seasons are bound to be seasons,
you can only wave them goodbye.

La la la...
Summer is one day off, winter is one day gone,
oh oh oh oh, sing a summer song.
And summer is one day off, winter is one day gone
oh oh oh oh, sing a summer song.
La la la...

The sun came up down an old dirt road
saying hello new day, hello.
It shone on my back like a father’s hand
saying my son, how you have grown.

Sun goes up, moon goes down
and you knew from the start
the measure of all things
is still the heart.

The bum lay down in a rain wet street
saying, “I don’t care, I don’t care.”
“I’m far too deep in this cold dark well
of things that keep me here.”

Sun goes up, moon goes down
and you knew from the start
the measure of all things
is still the heart.

On wings of wax, he flew too high
until he fell into the sea.
The ship sailed on and the farmer plowed
and the day passed gracefully.

Sun goes up, moon goes down
and you knew from the start
the measure of all things
is still the heart.

Leaving with the early light of morning,
the door will never open here again.
It’s only fair the good things leave as suddenly
as they came.

In the city streets there’s silence ringing like mission bells,
I have never known the morning to be so clear.
I was only given time enough just to wish you well
and disappear.

I’m not saying there’s no happiness in moving,
but these bits and pieces I have left behind,
are leaving me stretched out over a thousand miles
at a time.

I’ve never had an answer,
I’ve always had my plans,
randomly scattered by the winds of change,
leaving me where I stand.

I am given to the demands of another day,
I can only sit and watch the time roll on,
for as soon as my thoughts are freely returned to me
you will be gone.

For it seems as though long ago my hands were tied,
I’m never seen it once to fail,
no sooner had we met than I could feel the winds full
in my sails.

I’ve never had an answer,
I’ve always had my plans,
randomly scattered by the winds of change,
leaving me where I stand.

I’ve never had an answer,
I’ve always had my plans,
randomly scattered by the winds of change,
leaving me where I stand.

A passing of time has left us no choice,
but to walk north to Canada.
The greatest of nations has turned and has fled,
leaving the weak for dead.

On an ice covered mountain we went hunting for food,
when the sound of angry rifles filled the air.
We ran just as fast as fatigue would let us go,
to the whimpers and the blood upon the snow.

Who will answer for this madness,
I cannot believe what I see here.

Mother Earth won’t you take me now,
I have bowed my head to the winter.
How can I watch my children die,
I will not see spring forever.

Mother Earth won’t you take me now,
I have bowed my head to the winter.
How can I watch my children die,
I will not see spring forever.

There is only whiteness, no colors can I see,
from these dying animal eyes,
with wounds lying open to the frost bitten air,
and the forest is calling for my life.

I will die here with them, the knife is in my heart,
let them be near.

Mother Earth won’t you take me now,
I have bowed my head to the winter.
How can I watch my children die,
I will not see spring forever.

Mother Earth won’t you take me now,
I have bowed my head to the winter.
How can I watch my children die,
I will not see spring forever.

On the road, light of the city behind,
all jagged edges and moments of fierce design.
Here I go, driving from out of a cloud,
finding a place where the silence is not so loud.

No matter how hard it tries,
lonely cannot survive,
a night full of stars.

It’s not right, feeling so heartless and cold,
leaving behind me a past I could not control,
til I am lost in a chaos of stars,
quietly saying it was what it was, no more

No matter how hard it tries,
lonely cannot survive,
a night full of stars.

Everyone’s always changing their minds, their minds,
everyone’s always saying goodbye, goodbye.

Here I go, seeking the biggest hello,
feeling the light of a stranger I already know.

No matter how hard it tries,
lonely cannot survive,
a night full of stars.

No matter how hard it tries,
lonely cannot survive,
a night full of stars.

Day is done,
night brings no reprieve,
as one by one the courtyard lights,
take their timely leave.
To musical strains, the city sounds cease,
and the lovers and the others,
make their peace.

At the top of the shade,
peeks a cantaloupe moon.
This mellow bliss of drowsiness,
will take me soon.
The night air flows like a silent stream,
leaving only for the lonely to dream.

To dream, seemingly without a second thought,
of battles lost and won,
and those never begun,
oh oh oh, it’s not easy to love.
oh oh oh, it’s not easy to love.

(instrumental)

To dream, seemingly without a second thought,
of battles lost and won,
and those never begun,
oh oh oh, it’s not easy to love.
oh oh oh, it’s not easy to love.

Now, these crowded days,
and these empty nights,
find me sitting in strangers rooms,
being polite.
Before I know, it’s another night gone,
oh oh oh, how the life does go on.

Goes on, seemingly without a second thought,
of battles lost and won,
and those never begun,
oh oh oh, it’s not easy to love.
oh oh oh, it’s not easy to love.

Maris, just a child now, don’t I feel like you,
looking out at the world from inside baby blue.
Reaching out to places you don’t quite understand,
there is so much to learn and you were only given two hands.
But, didn’t little doggy just die in the street,
didn’t those tears roll right down my cheek,
don’t I see her some nights in my sleep,

starting all over again.

Na na...
Starting all over again.

Brother, don’t I envy you, you know I’m gonna be there soon,
living out in the green, tucked inside nature’s womb.
You know that mountain hideaway might as well be the moon,
from where I’m sitting here locked in this hot city tomb.
Didn’t I just tell my best friend goodbye,
ain’t nobody gonna swell up and cry,
no need to explain to her why,
I’m starting all over again.

Na na...
Starting all over again.
Father, don’t I see your life in a different kind of light,
holding on to yourself with all of your might,
feeling out the changes, sorting out all the lies.
‘Cause you always told me son, all you’ve got to do is die.
But, here I’m singing with nothing to show,
nowhere to leave from and nowhere to go.
Here I sit where I sat long ago,
starting all over again.

Na na...
Starting all over again.

But, here I’m singing with nothing to show,
nowhere to leave from and nowhere to go.
Here I sit where I sat long ago,
starting all over again.

Read and re-read letters lie scattered on the floor,
a grim collage of what has come before.
Long departed lovers, shadows on the wall,
are with you, not with you at all.

For if I loved you ladies, I love you much more now,
frozen as you once were in my mind.
Where the pettiness, the boredom, and the lack of compromise,
is readily forgotten with time.

Still I feel responsibility for every single one,
who shared the flimsy worries of the time.
Whose happiness was woven in mutual design,
only for the fiber to unwind.

Yes, I keep giving them up for logic and the love of truth,
living it to the letter and the line,
giving them up for reasons unknown to me now,
that seemed to be the best thing at the time.

These stumbling virginities have long outlived their day,
the time has come to put them all away.
To come down from the tower, abandon the facade,
and take the blame for what has come and gone.

For the shame of retrospection is the sham of all ideals,
somehow they just never quite apply.
So we bend the definitions to fit the way we feel,
safe inside the knowledge that we tried.

Yes, I keep giving them up for logic and the love of truth,
living it to the letter and the line,
giving them up for reasons unknown to me now,
that seemed to be the best thing at the time.
That seemed to be the best thing at the time.
That seemed to be the best thing at the time.