Foreign Windows

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

I can’t take another day

Of grey skies and rainfall

You could drown in history here

Monuments and crumbling walls

Architecture all around

A masterpiece in every room

Culture from the dawn of time

Nursery rhymes and flying brooms

 

Yeah, it’s the old world

Like a wise girl

Learns a lot from a long affair

I was born here

But if you knew me, I swear

That it’s all so clear

 

I’m lookin’ through a foreign window

But I don’t see the beauty here

All I see’s another country

As the ghost of Europe disappears

 

In the darkest afternoon

On busy streets a man alone

Hops a ride on the northern star

Imagination takes him home

 

Anarchy is everywhere

Her handbag holds a rusty crown

But only hawks and horses rule

These 30 acres that I’ve found

 

Yeah, it’s the old world

Like a wise girl

Learns a lot from a long affair

I was born here

But if you knew me, I swear

That it’s all so clear

 

I’m lookin’ through a foreign window

But I don’t see the beauty here

All I see’s another country

As the ghost of Europe disappears

 

You’ve got everything you need

Like those feet in ancient times

And I’ve got everything I want

My independence state of mind

 

I’m lookin’ through a foreign window

But I don’t see the beauty here

All I see’s another country

As the ghost of Europe disappears

 

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Nothin' Gonna Kill The Kid

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

Gotta see New York

When I was young

Gotta walk in Harlem

Learned to bite my tongue

 

Softer than white bread

Slick as margarine

Said I was a square peg

They called me Little Green

 

‘Cuz I’m native dynamite

Take two steps back before you light

I’m Superman but I keep it hid

Nothin’s gonna stop the boy

Nothin’s gonna kill the kid

Nothin’s gonna stop the boy

Nothin’s gonna kill the kid

 

Madame Amanda

She’s a Tasty Freeze

I gotta see the dark side

I tripped on a garbage breeze

 

I play my guitar

In this cheap hotel

Trippin’ over bodies

Sleepin’ in the stairwell

 

‘Cuz I’m native dynamite

Take two steps back before you light

I’m Superman but I keep it hid

Nothin’s gonna stop the boy

Nothin’s gonna kill the kid

Nothin’s gonna stop the boy

Nothin’s gonna kill the kid

 

Step into my phone booth

Put a tattoo on my chest

Make it real big and pretty

With a triangle and a great big ‘S'

 

‘Cuz I’m native dynamite

Take two steps back before you light

I’m Superman but I keep it hid

Nothin’s gonna stop the boy

Nothin’s gonna kill the kid

Nothin’s gonna stop the boy

Nothin’s gonna kill the kid

 

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Distance To The Mountain

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

Like the dust that settled after her wedding day

She sees the sharp edge dull and the passion stripped away

Now she waits alone in his dark deserted house

Painting scenes for a future that she can’t live without

 

Oh, the young and the restless only go so far

He could ride a wild horse if he only followed his heart

She wants to free the mystery locked up in his soul

She’d like to cheat the silence and drag him across the coals

 

Some of us can’t judge

The distance to the mountain

But something in my blood

Says never draw the line

She’s closer than you think

The one that you can count on

It’s just that you’re afraid, afraid to make the climb

 

Bridge the distance to the mountain

Never let ‘em change, never let ‘em change your mind

Bridge the distance to the mountain

Never let ‘em draw, never let ‘em draw the line

 

When the flowers are dried and pressed between the page

She’ll hear his sweet talk fall like the steel teeth of a cage

Like a midnight moon behind her wedding veil

She’s waiting for a storm to put the wind beneath her sails

 

Some of us can’t judge

The distance to the mountain

But something in my blood

Says never draw the line

She’s closer than you think

The one that you can count on

It’s just that you’re afraid, afraid to make the climb

 

Bridge the distance to the mountain

Never let ‘em change, never let ‘em change your mind

Bridge the distance to the mountain

Never let ‘em draw, never let ‘em draw the line

 

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Daria

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

I’ve been knocked about by a cruel wind

I’ve been cheated like snake out of his skin

You were the holiest

You righteous little queen

With your skin flick mind

I felt like I was just 16

 

And relations ain’t what they seem

And orphans go to extremes

Oh Daria

Don’t you come around here again

Oh Daria

With your factory mouth

And your heart in a silver frame

I spell it D-A-R-I-A

I don’t even want to say your name

 

You were locked inside of a Persian room

With your ring-tailed cat

Under a hangnail moon

You were unsinkable

You burning like St. Joan

With your six inch nails

Tearin’ up your cashmere throne

 

And relations ain’t what they seem

And orphans go to extremes

Oh Daria

Don’t you come around here again

Oh Daria

With your factory mouth

And your heart in a silver frame

I spell it D-A-R-I-A

I don’t even want to say your name

 

Don’t think, I went looking

Looking for you

Looking for me

Tear stains can’t erase your name

But it gets to lock away

All this crucifixion pain

 

And relations ain’t what they seem

And orphans go to extremes

Oh Daria

Don’t you come around here again

Oh Daria

With your factory mouth

And your heart in a silver frame

I spell it D-A-R-I-A

I don’t even want to say your name

 

I spell it D-A-R-I-A

I don’t even want to say your name

 

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Lightning On The Hill

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

Temperatures rise, temperatures fall

It’s a constant war

Staying alive, letting it slide

But I won’t crawl

I cover the miles, carry the weight

Of your cold dark heart

And bury the bones of a hawk and dove

When the thunder starts

 

Dust off your electric chair

Connect the wires I’m standing here

Shock my system from within

Just throw that switch again

 

And you can rage against the day

Shake a fist to justify a thrill

But there’s no tellin’ where you’re strikin’

Like the lightning on the hill

 

Burnt out fuses, power surges

Electricity can kill

But the urge to follow danger

It comes dancing like the lightning on the hill

 

Into the fire, into the wall

We crash and burn

Out of control, into a wreck

Of a life we’ve blown

Two of a kind draggin’ a line

In a cold hard rain

Must’ve loved cracking our skulls

Again and again and again and again

 

Mouths just lie and shout and scream

Come into see us fighting here

Sparks applied to apathy

Just wind up breathing fear

 

And you can rage against the day

Shake a fist to justify a thrill

But there’s no tellin’ where you’re strikin’

Like the lightning on the hill

 

Burnt out fuses, power surges

Electricity can kill

But the urge to follow danger

It comes dancing like the lightning on the hill

 

Burnt out fuses, power surges

Electricity can kill

But the urge to follow danger

It comes dancing like the lightning on the hill

Dancing like the lightning on the hill

Dancing like the lightning on the hill

 

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This Face

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

This face is all I have worn and lived in

Lines below my eyes they’re like old friends

And this old heart’s been beaten up

My ragged soul it’s had things rough

This face is all I have worn and lived in

 

The fairest they can fall bored in believing

It’s something to achieve this peaceful feeling

After all these tears are only truth

Your silver spoons can’t dig up my roots

This face is all I have worn and lived in

 

I don’t need a sympathetic mirror

No bitter glass hung on a wall

I need the truth from my reflection

Who needs to be the fairest of them all

 

I never looked like you cool and streamlined

I have this honesty that grows with time

When cracks appear they suit me fine

Like a good old dog you won’t hear me whine

This face is all I have worn and lived in

 

Sins and lies take the place of truth and answers

You can trade a glance and call it second sight

You can’t buy a sympathetic mirror

Honesty’s an answer you can’t fight

 

This face is all I have worn and lived in

Lines below my eyes they’re like old friends

And this old heart’s been beaten up

My ragged soul it’s had things rough

This face is all I have worn and lived in

 

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Whiskey In The Bathtub

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

Well, it’s one more old fable

Where the tables get turned

It’s that little southern town

Where the books get burned

Like Shanghai on Sunday

Full of red balloons

There’s a fire breathing dragon

And a firecracker moon

 

Whiskey in the bathtub

Beats a bucket of rain

Salt on your knuckles

Beats a line of cocaine

 

So tie off and die off

It’s your dime not mine

When there’s whiskey in the bathtub

The cool become kind

 

Here’s one more old soldier

Who was dusted too long

One more three foot coffin

‘Round your eight year old son

In Ho Chi Minh City

There’s a new Pizza Hut

There’s American dollars

Up Columbia’s butt

 

Whiskey in the bathtub

Beats a bucket of rain

Salt on your knuckles

Beats a line of cocaine

 

So tie off and die off

It’s your dime not mine

When there’s whiskey in the bathtub

The cool become kind

 

And the spiritual wino

Goes the way of the buffalo

Of the poet and the cigarette

Oh, we worship at the alter

Of God and canned laughter

But neither one is getting our respect

 

Whiskey in the bathtub

Beats a bucket of rain

Salt on your knuckles

Beats a line of cocaine

 

So tie off and die off

It’s your dime not mine

When there’s whiskey in the bathtub

The cool become kind

 

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Bird Of Prey

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

I opened up my veins and let you in

When I was fresh among the grass

Just touched down in paradise

That’s what they called this place back then

 

You were one more bird in training

Learning how to swoop and kill

I was just another golden smile

Another skinny little English thrill

 

How do you sleep at night

Whenever you hear my songs

Don’t you know all the money in the world

Won’t keep you young, but anyway

Bird of prey I’m gonna shoot you down someday

(How do you sleep at night)

Bird of prey I’m gonna shoot you down someday

 

California calls and fools rush in

Well I was wet behind the ears

Like the headlight stuns the deer

Like a buzzard blotting out the sun

 

You must have traded youth for greed

A wedding ring just hid the whore

That’s all you were down deep inside

Just another vacant carnivore

 

How do you sleep at night

Whenever you hear my songs

Don’t you know all the money in the world

Won’t keep you young, but anyway

Bird of prey I’m gonna shoot you down someday

(How do you sleep at night)

Bird of prey I’m gonna shoot you down someday

 

How do you sleep at night

Whenever you hear my songs

Don’t you know all the money in the world

Won’t keep you young, but anyway

Bird of prey I’m gonna shoot you down someday

(How do you sleep at night)

Bird of prey I’m gonna shoot you down someday

 

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Leaving Buffalo

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

She was a mad Madonna full of Eastern poetry

Just one more savior counting on her rosary

I was close to freezing standing on DuPont

Looking like a token every little rich girl wants

 

I was sadly illegal thinking I was Byron

I was Coleridge on Laudanum sleeping with the lions

It was a situation of my mind and her culture

I was flesh for the taking in the talons of the vulture

 

Tickets on the sideboard

Snowfalls in the driveway

Looks like it’s 3rd down and 3 to go

I’m not getting’ any younger

Sittin’ out this winter

It’s overtime

And I’m leavin’ Buffalo

Oh, it’s overtime

And I’m leavin’ Buffalo

 

She was a cosmic gypsy queen sitting in her flagship

With her mangos and her candles and her 20 shades of lipstick

She sees the constellation carved in her ceiling

If she could read the stars she’d calculate I’m leaving

 

Tickets on the sideboard

Snowfalls in the driveway

Looks like it’s 3rd down and 3 to go

I’m not getting’ any younger

Sittin’ out this winter

It’s overtime

And I’m leavin’ Buffalo

Oh, it’s overtime

And I’m leavin’ Buffalo

 

It’s so cold and she’s older than me

She said come along gotta place for you to sleep

Everybody’s grounded, the drifts are 10 feet deep

And the walls are closing in

I’ve been stranded here for weeks

 

Tickets on the sideboard

Snowfalls in the driveway

Looks like it’s 3rd down and 3 to go

I’m not getting’ any younger

Sittin’ out this winter

It’s overtime

And I’m leavin’ Buffalo

Oh, it’s overtime

And I’m leavin’ Buffalo

 

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Working In The Fields

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

Moon’s hung like a midnight sun

Big trucks bringin’ us in

Crates piled high above our eyes

Well I just can’t seem to win

 

Burnt brown as this muddy ground

Bandanna round my head

Hoes choppin’ out the wild weeds

And my body’s drenched with sweat

 

Diesel and dust from dawn to dusk

It don’t pay the minimum wage

And all that talk about a better life

I feel my life slippin’ away

 

Workin’ in the fields

With the sun on my back

So far from my village

Un illegal mas

 

I remember her standing

By the old screen door

Sayin’ “Vaya con dios.

Adios, mi amor.”

 

All I am’s just one more hand

Smuggled by the wolf

Hidin’ out in them Oxnard bars

Sleepin’ on the mission roof

 

Pesticides stingin’ my eyes

Burning my calloused hands

As the fancy cars up on 101

Head for their mansions on the sand

 

Diesel and dust from dawn to dusk

Leaves me sleepin’ on this sack

Sure it seemed like a fast way out

But Lord it’s a long way back

 

Workin’ in the fields

With the sun on my back

So far from my village

Un illegal mas

 

I remember her standing

By the old screen door

Sayin’ “Vaya con dios.

Adios, mi amor.”

Sayin’ “Vaya con dios.

Adios, mi amor.”

 

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America On Trial

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

Well, I stood up to be counted as the big red trucks

Came howling down Goliath

Like eighteen wheels of armor

It’s America on trial

I was standing at the window when the last great comet

Came screaming out of the sky

Like the pride of Mother Nature

Like America on trial

 

I’m a hand in a fist of a foreign glove

Where the buck stops at the well

I’m a cold dark cloud

On a map of the world

And a crack in the liberty bell

 

I’m going down, I’m drowning fast

Help me stand on my feet

I’m short of breath, I’m on my knees

I’m at the judgment seat

 

Lay me down in the sands of time

On the edge of the miracle mile

Was it Cochise or Columbus

Put America on trial

The golden eagle’s golden beak

Couldn’t hope to raise a smile

Here on the edge of the century

It’s America on trial

 

They were hiding in the bushes when the dragon roared

In the shadow of a noose

Like cannibals eatin’ cornbread

Like nouveau Hitler youth

I was standing in the valley as the architects

Came struggling up the hill

Sayin’ “Be it by our own design”

America’s on trial

 

I’m a bat and a ball in the final game

Where the home run never ends

I’m the last great thief

Who’s stolen the ink

From the Declaration pen

 

I’m going down, I’m drowning fast

Help me stand on my feet

I’m short of breath, I’m on my knees

I’m at the judgment seat

 

Oh, lay me down in the sands of time

On the edge of the miracle mile

Was it Cochise or Columbus

Put America on trial

The golden eagle’s golden beak

Couldn’t hope to raise a smile

Here on the edge of the century

It’s America on trial

 

Here on the edge of the century

It’s America on trial

 

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Aimless Driving

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

I slammed the door behind me when I left home

And it seems so many years now

I’ve been out here on my own

I dress the way I wanna dress

I sleep on the left or the right

But a man can’t live without a woman’s touch

And sometimes late at night

I crawl from out these covers

And slip into my car

I hit those lights and hit those streets

And cruise two lanes for hours

 

And it’s aimless driving

On an endless highway

I’m sounding like a sad old song

Aimless driving

On an endless highway

I’m just looking for a place to belong

 

I tune in stations, pass filling stations

Like an empty station, all my trains are gone

Just aimless driving

 

It’s a strange beast this man in need sometimes

Wears his heart outside his shirt

For the first lost soul to find

I got a need to beat the system

You gotta get a rope to hang yourself

But your eyes can’t buy what a heart desires

If you had a rich man’s wealth

 

Just a ragtop on some blacktop

Back up in these hills

I’m red-eyed hope on four wheels

With too much time to kill

And it’s aimless driving

On an endless highway

I’m sounding like a sad old song

Aimless driving

On an endless highway

I’m just looking for a place to belong

 

I tune in stations, pass filling stations

Like an empty station, all my trains are gone

So it’s aimless driving

I’m still counting on my heart to be strong

 

These days it doesn’t matter

So many things have changed

No one to love, no one to fight

No one to take the blame

 

Aimless driving

Aimless driving

Aimless driving

Aimless driving

Aimless driving

 

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Deep Dark Secret

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

I’m forty-five and bloody

Drivin’ this old pickup

Down some lonesome white line headin’ south

And what I’ve left behind me

No doubt’s gonna haunt me

Haunt me for the rest of my life

 

Well, I used to be a good man

‘Til things got out of hand

I always got back up when they knocked me down

Pressure kept on piling up

Home life took a bad turn

Only God can forgive me now

 

And in that house I’ve left behind

There’s a deep dark secret now

Oh Dee, it’s my deep dark secret

I really couldn’t handle

Knowing I was stranded

No way out, no future, no relief

Now every day I’ll pay for it

With this deep dark secret that I keep

 

Salvation’s on the radio

Troopers up behind

Ghostly echo of three shotgun blasts

And I’m as yella as the moon

For doin’ what I done to you

Damned if I can’t hear the devil laugh

 

And in that house I’ve left behind

There’s a deep dark secret now

Oh Dee, it’s my deep dark secret

I really couldn’t handle

Knowing I was stranded

No way out, no future, no relief

Now every day I’ll pay for it

With this deep dark secret that I keep

 

Me and Dee went all through school together

Me and Dee danced at the Union Hall

Me and Dee got into drinkin’ early

We got hitched on a trip down through Arkansas

 

Chalk lanes in the hallway

Red lights in the drive

Strangers’ faces siftin’ through my life

Checkin’ out our pictures

Sayin’ “Where’s that son-of-abitch

Could’a done this to his kids and wife?”

 

And in that house I’ve left behind

There’s a deep dark secret now

Oh Dee, it’s my deep dark secret

I really couldn’t handle

Knowing I was stranded

No way out, no future, no relief

Now every day I’ll pay for it

With this deep dark secret that I keep

 

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Stars & Seeds

(Jim Cregan/Robin LeMesurier/Bernie Taupin)

 

We climbed together

Higher and higher

Up from that rocky place

I was ashamed

And I was wondering

Is this house somewhere safe

 

We stood together

Tighter and tighter

Close to that saving grace

We were wounded

But we were healing

In the joy of this green place

 

We joined together

Reeling and rolling

Far from that beaten track

I was commanded

Remove that burden

Help us bring salvation back

 

Stars and seeds we plough together

When they fall from sky to earth

We’ll grow the tree that touches heaven

And climb together into his church

 

When we discover

Peace and passion

All by his enchanted hand

We will touch him

With our longing

When we reach the promised land

 

We’ll come together

Sooner or later

Driftwood on a stormy sea

I will be willing

And I will serve you

On the shores of eternity

 

Stars and seeds we plough together

When they fall from sky to earth

We’ll grow the tree that touches heaven

And climb together into his church

 

Stars and seeds we plough together

When they fall from sky to earth

We’ll grow the tree that touches heaven

And climb together into his church

 

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