HE WHO RIDES THE TIGER (1980)
Monkey On My Back (The Last Run)
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
There's moonlight on the crystals
Laid on the back of my hand
Temptation lies in the ocean
And I'm laid out in the sand
There's blood on my rear view mirror
And a siren in the street
There's a fog out here in Malibu
And a needle at my feet
There's a mobile home in Carmel
Stranded in a trailer park
A teenage mother hides herself
From the eyes of the loan shark
She's beggin' me "Honey don't go
It's not worth the pain
You can't go on playin'
This dangerous game"
This monkey on my back
Left me stranded in L.A.
With a busted truck and a chewed up arm
And a cravin' in my veins
There's a chopper with a searchlight
Whirlin' overhead
The L.A.P.D.'s on the beach
And this bust's been put to bed
Buried deep the white fire heats
The slug stuck in my side
Runnin' bags for crooked cash
Took me one too many miles
It's gotta be over poor boy
Their sights were set on me
Never figured sand turned red at night
Don't want no sheet over me
They chased me clear down from Monterey
But I lost them on the freeway
I ran a speedtrap and hell I almost got away
So I took Ventura through the mountains
And Sunset to the sea
They winged me out in the Palisades
When I stopped off to get some change
But I never got to use the phone
They was like Apaches round a wagon train
Born On The Fourth Of July
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
Marchin', I hear marchin'
Outside my window in the rain
I play checkers, I'm sick of checkers
I'm sick of the pain
Marchin', I hear marchin'
Outside my window in the rain
I play checkers, I'm sick of checkers
I'm sick of pain, I'm sick of pain
Mondays, every Monday
Sees my hollow eyes
I liked Hank Williams, he died, Hank Williams
I'm still alive, I'm still alive
Blood red and blue your flag's on view
Ticker tape rains on Fifth Avenue
Some colored kid will shine your shoes
Some orphan screams in a chow line queue
For the whitewash and the tarbrush don't lie
Hey lucky you to be born on the Fourth of July
Callin', storm warnin's callin'
From Calvary to Bunker Hill
Pontius Pilate turned the tarot
Adn the reaper killed, and the reaper killed
Glory, wave old glory
Sand Creek to Gettysburg
From Andrew Jackson to Richard Nixon
For the brave new world, for the brave new world
It's last request for protest time
It's some long haired kid on the subway line
With a beaten guitar and a lot of time
We shall overcome, well we never shall
It's flags on lapels and faded decals
Max Yazga and puka shells
Dungarees and dying causes
Body bags and pregnant pauses
Dayglow posters of Joan Baez
Meditating, dating, yoga and E.S.T.
Bells and flowers and beads of incense
Well, none of that shit makes any sense
For the whitewash and the tarbrush don't lie
Hey lucky you to be born on the Fourth of July
Venezuela
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
Fresh bait, sails, a net and a wooden spear
The Amazon Basin ain't too far, but it ain't too near
I'll never sink my tackle in that water
I'm not a jungle son, I got rum soaked, hooked a line
And I caught her
Oh Venezuela, salted sea is all I've ever had
Sailing from Caracas up to Trinidad
Oh Venezuela, been on a shrimp boat for too long
Trolling shark through waters from the surf to sun
Sunset sees man rest on a charted isle
Mama cooks fresh fish, on a driftwood fire
Oh, he's early rise when the sky lights Barcelona
I'm not a jungle son, I got rum soaked, hooked a line
And I caught her
Off the coast the schooner boasts, they found a pirate wreck
While the barracuda fights for breath upon the open deck
Sharing stories of Captain Morgan and the Mary Celeste
Approaching Armageddon
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
On a foreign runway delayed by the rain
I looked back on the last ten years
And how my life has changed
Aviator glasses protecting my eyes
Reflecting my emotions on seeing so many die
Death from either life or love
Strung out on a limb
I've seen 'em turn from beer and pills
To scotch and heroin
Never learned to turn the soil
Though I should have done
Daddy was a farmer and we were farmer's sons
But I had plans to plough the streets
A long way from the land
Leaving pool halls full of blood
To the sounds of acoustic bands
Razor blades and common trade
Throats cut on the working man
I've walked through life on broken glass
And I never gave a damn
For its harvest home and the church of England sings
When your approaching Armageddon
Let your baptism and penance
Be the only Lucifer to light your sins
When you've chosen the hard ride
Livin' on God's good side
Approaching Armageddon once again
Bolts of lightning shook me with the price of fame
Rock and roll affected me but country kept me sane
Universal gossip seared my wings
I always rode the roundabouts
But I never tried the swings
Married young and with my guns
I blew her out of my life
It's easy to hold on to time
But it's hard to keep a wife
I only learned to play three chords
My fingers weren't that long
I never wrapped my arms around the neck of someone strong
Moves of blue that strangled me drying up my pen
Til I was left to live my life on a scale from one to ten
Wasted days and endless nights
See the drunkard with the even tan
I was just about to leave the rails
When someone gave a damn
It's two years down and counting the couple on the wire
I've lived and lost and paid the cost
Of fighting fire with fire
Traces of the onetime sometimes cross my mind
But when there's little left you're cruel to be kind
I don't regret a single day
You see, some of it was fun
Ten years on I'm wiser
But I'm still a farmer's son
Lover’s Cross
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
You were my nightlight in the jungle when the vulture came to call
You swam around below me, and you dragged me up for air
Till all around the sounds of love came blowing through my door
You stayed awhile and like a child you stepped on all my toys
True love makes you bitter, true love turns you sour
But some time true love hits you in the strangest hours
I don't want to hang on no lover's cross for you
I won't be your crucifix or saviour to bruise
I don't want to hang on no lover's cross for you
Saints alive I've died a hundred times or more for you
Prowling through my lifestyle, like a black cat on the roof
Riding astride my innocence when I was a hundred proof
And of our passion you confessed you'd never felt so proud
For what I lack, and my mistakes you'll find in others now
You can tell them that they're better, hand 'em the same line
But for Christ's sake I don't think you'll find someone that kind
Don't leave your shadow, won't you take it away
Don't want to keep finding little bits of you that stayed
If I see you tomorrow, if I spot you in a crowd
Be kind enough to ask me "Hey, how are you doing now"
"I'm doing fine, hope you're the same way"
Then I'll turn towards your latest love and say
Are you gonna hang on a lover's cross for her
Will you be her crucifix, do you mind getting hurt
Are you gonna hang on a lover's cross for her
Cause saints alive, I've died a hundred times or more for her
Blitz Babies
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
I remember running as the siren screamed
Bedded down in a bunker on the warden's knee
Trying to play it cool and act my age
As the war birds swooped and the Blitzkrieg raged
But you can't really blame it on Friday night
If the radio's dead and they've doused the lights
Old Churchill told us we'll stay free
Just lay the blame on Germany
Blitz babies born to be crazy
Kids too young to fight
Spitfires hummin', Messerschmidts a comin'
Doodlebugs dancin' on the West End nights
Blitz babies England made us
Listen to your labor lies
Now we're older, ships on our shoulders
Working men who spit into the union's eyes
But you can't really blame it on Friday night
When the blinds are down for the comin' fight
My old man's crowin' through his cockney pride
Sayin' just remember boy God's on our side
Chased through the rubble as the buildings shook
For breaking into houses stealing ration books
The hard hats tanned us, they took our names
As we whistled at the WAF's and watched the flames
Valley Nights
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
When the streets are steaming, the big slicks scream
As they burn down the quarter mile
And those lean brown boys in their sleeveless shirts
Curse the heat when it cramps their style
Only the Chicano in his body shop
Say "In cherry red she look so fine"
While his brothers burn the chops of the Catholic kids
From West Covina to the county line
Cherio my baby say don't you know me
The rich kid in the Karman Ghia
Well I bought these wheels just to make you feel
That I'm a street kid not a racketeer
Should we grab a bite where the greasers eat
Watch them choppers cruise up to the stand
Or should we park where it's dark
And tune the A.M. in to the sounds of the old Wolfman
When she's spent your candle she learned your handle
She says honey let me see you shift
Where you floor it in fourth down to the liquor store
Where a fake I.D. can score a fifth
Sonny Matao say to Susie Elaina
Maybe we could steal your sister's car
And grab ourselves a six-pack and head on down
To the drive-in at Canoga Park
When the surfers hit Topanga once they quit the waves
And they roll back into Woodland Hills
Where those bleached blonde girls in their faded jeans
Bring 'em burgers from the bar-n-grill
When they've stashed their boards and climbed up on
Them wagons just to eat up the night
It's a crackerjack box with no surprise
When your lady's sinking ludes and whites
I've had a hell of a week up on over the hill
And you know there's a valley between
But if you won't see me on Friday I might as well
Throw a monkey wrench in my machine
Cause I saddle soaped the buckets, shined the chrome
Polished up the panel lights
Until you can check your make-up in the fuel gauge
And I can dazzle you
Love (The Barren Desert)
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
You went East to New York, and I stayed in L.A.
You wanted a brownstone, and I wanted my own way
You were drawn by the neon, when I wanted to play,
Just wanted to play
I guess I'm California, and you're just Broadway
I tuned out on romance, pushed it to one side
I don't believe in happiness when love is genocide
And love, the barren desert, we've all come to thirst
Loyalty's a mirage, caring just a curse
Storms keep blowing through the bones of another man
And the sands of time keep slipping through,
Hearthless empty hands
And they say get out, get out of the house
I say I take it as it comes along
Get a slice of life on the streets tonight
I'll just fit in where I feel I belong
I can feel like a martyr, you feel like a stone
You danced with an actor, me I danced all alone
Hearts are captured easy, and you had mine so long, so long
I guess you're Louis Vouitton, and I'm just Tuscon
I can't change my habits, I guess that's what counts
But he who rides the tiger, never dismounts
The Whores Of Paris
(Bernie Taupin/ Dennis Tufano)
Gigi liked the book on Jackie O.
Though I knew she had some trouble with the words
It never showed
She'd never drop her guard
Under pressure she preferred like all her girls
Who worked the bars
To be a lady in the finest sense
Not your traditional elegance
Of Paris Match and chic expense
But the tough and tardy waiting game
With fat commuters full of cheap champagne
Belching tourists feel no pain
When Gigi takes their wallets
Spends their bodies, keeps the change
For sentiment don't touch the Whores of Paris
Just the years and lines of age
That buries them in unmarked graves
Old and spent and never saved
By epitaphs and red bouquets
When winter wakes the devil takes
The Whores of Paris home to Hades
They use their caution like a whip
We sensed it as they filed their nails, crimson
As the paint upon their lips
Tough enough to rust in jail
Farmers' daughters plucked like corn
From the Camargue to Marseilles
Ideals of the ideal life
Expectant mothers discarded wives
With re-sewn wrists and tear stained eyes
They soon find the shoe fits easy
The francs flow in and the tricks say "please me"
Another lovely thigh says "squeeze me"
Mon cherie, my bed's so busy
Take a Pernod, life's so sleazy
It's not coffee in the air
Just the smell of foreign fingers greasing palms
On the Seine it's Sunday morning
To her it's always evening
Shifting gear to put some German in her arms
Washed in sterile porcelain
She fakes it for the good of his morale
He's tired and worn but she moves on
To rope another stud from her corral
Christmas in the poor house
Unbeknownst to others, Madelaina takes her life
She tipped the scales at forty five
Never saw a decent day
Never made it to the upper echelons of night
In decadence I once reclined
Looked them over once or twice but never really
Crossed my mind
Preferring to remain their friend
I never shared the pleasures of the mystery that lay beneath
Anyone of them
They just seemed starved of conversation
Respected us for being patient
Demanded news of other nations far away
And I'm still glad I gained their faith
For every girl there bore more taste
Than the flotsam strung on the Bel Air wastes
They poised themselves with perfect grace
Their hearts were chipped but not misplaced