Older
 
When you smiled I was alive
When you walked out I cried
What does it mean now
Nothing much at all
The rain has washed it all away
 
Now I’m older
And the time has passed
All the things that could have been
And all the things that are
We can't change a single thing
All the scrapes and all the cuts
All the ifs and all the buts
I raise a glass to now
 
I go for a pint now
And I watch the people play
But this ain't the city that I left behind that day
Something has changed
She didn't grow with me
I don't belong here on these streets
 
Now I’m older
And the time has passed
All the things that could have been
And all the things that are
We can't change a single thing
All the scrapes and all the cuts
All the ifs and all the buts
I raise a glass to now
 
 
 
Innocent Times
 
The human race
Is it almost run
The sins of the fathers
To be paid by the sons
You can't undo what's been done
The human race
Is it almost run
 
We're guilty of possession
Guilty of too many crimes
Do you ever long for
More innocent times
 
When you say your prayers
Do you close your eyes
Will you see color
On the other side
You say your heart is open wide
You’ve got it all yet you scream like a child
 
We’re guilty of corruption
All the way down the line
Have we ever lived in
More innocent times
 
Wild fires burning
The world's still turning
Flowers blooming
Moonshine drinking
People dancing all night long
 
Well I took a breath
And I stepped outside
Saw mountains as high as the sky is wide
You can’t outrun your foolish pride
It’ll be right beside you on the day that you die
 
We’re guilty of deception
The most devious kind
How much do you want for
Your innocent times
 
The human race
Is it almost run
The sins of the fathers
To be paid by the sons
You can't undo what's been done
The human race
Is it almost run
 
 
 
 
Bringing the Sunshine
 
Locked out found out
Down by the river
Where there’s a dollar there’s a dime
You're out of the sun
In need of some vitamins
Might not be as easy as toeing the line
 
From the markets of Singapore
To the streets of Hong Kong
All the way to old Bombay
 
Here she comes again
Here she comes again
Bringing the sunshine
Bringing the sunshine
 
Well tonight you're a rock n roll star
You know you’re a survivor
Like the monkeys and the tigers
Cadillacs and Pontiacs
And vintage Impalas
 
Nothing in this game for two in a bed
You can’t always take back what you did or what you said
You may wish you could
 
Here she comes again
Here she comes again
Bringing the sunshine
Bringing the sunshine
 
Well you know what they say
Crime doesn’t pay
Do you wish you could stay here
For eternity
Half a world away
Maybe that’s not far enough
 
And you're all out of gurus
Sailing on this ship of fools
 
Here she comes again
Here she comes again
Bringing the sunshine
Bringing the sunshine
 
 
 
Hold On
 
I watched the rain fall on the river
I think it came out of the sky
I felt the tears on my shoulder
I know they came out of your eyes
 
Hold on
You've got to walk before you run
Hold on
You're still young and this world's not done
 
Your legs are heavy and your mind is weary
Feel like you're going nowhere fast
They're putting walls up all around you
Like you're a prisoner of the past
 
Hold on
There's often sunshine after rain
Hold on
You can make it through the pain
 
Glass houses glass houses
Everybody throwing stones
Glass houses
All I see is everybody throwing stones
 
I watched the rain fall on the river
I think it came out of the sky
I felt the tears on my shoulder
I know they came out of your eyes
 
Hold on
You've got to walk before you run
Hold on
You're still young and this world's not done
 
 
 
Hot in the City
 
It's getting hot in the city
It's getting hot in the city
And the money's tight
And the pressure's starting to rise
 
And the rats are running loose out on the streets
Don't lose your head
Don't lose your head
Try to keep your feet
 
And in the darkest corners
Where the devil takes his due
There's a little bit of real estate
Waiting just for you
 
So try to keep a little money safe
Just in case
But sometimes it's not enough
Sometimes you're just too late
 
Cos no one's gonna help you
You're completely on your own
At the mercy of the seeds
That others may have sown
 
And the people with the money
They won't be giving it away
Cos they don't want to be where you are
Not on this or any other day
 
It's getting hot in the city
It's getting hot in the city
It's getting hot in the city
It's getting hot in the city
 
 
 
Alien in Disguise
 
He's taking his six o'clock run
He's getting things done
You've seen him around
He's in everyone's town
But he’s underneath the radar
 
He’s an alien in disguise
He came here in ’45
He’s living amongst us
He don’t make a fuss
He’s just sitting there quietly at the back of the bus
 
She's not trying to hustle
She’s not in need of any kind of muscle
She's not looking for any fun
She's a creature of a different sun
 
She's an alien in disguise
She came here in '45
She’s living amongst us
She don’t make a fuss
She’s just sitting there quietly at the back of the bus
 
She does an honest day’s work
For an honest day’s pay
And she wonders when
All that went away
 
Now she needs all kinds of money
To rent a shoe box in the city
She really thinks that it needn’t be
Such a matter of great complexity
 
But she’s just an extraterrestrial
What would she know
What would she know
 
Look over there there’s someone
Ever so pleased with themselves
Outstanding achievements litter their past
And nobody cares
 
They’re talking amongst themselves
They’ve got all the books and they’ve got all the shelves
The bodies are in their basement
Treated with contempt by most of their children
Most of their children sincerely despise them
 
They say there ain’t no shame in being shameless
If it pays the bills
Monetizing hatred all day long
 
Well it's the end of the road for me
My story's already been told
It's the end of the road for me
Mrs Jones
 
I got that greed
I got that somnolence
Maybe it’s a question of confidence
 
Eyes wide open fast asleep
I won't tell you any secrets
That you can't keep
 
It's the end of the road for me
My story's already been told
It's the end of the road for me
Mrs Jones
 
 
 
 
It's Alright
 
It's alright it's alright
From the Caribbean islands
To the wide Pacific skies
 
Hear Trenchtown sing
No woman no cry
Every little thing is gonna be alright
Is gonna be alright
Every little thing
 
The rain still falls and the sun still shines
The flowers bloom on the mountainside
They somehow find a way to make it through
Just like you
Just like you're gonna do
 
Every little thing
 
It's alright it's alright
From the misty mountain mornings
To the city nights
Running around just trying to stay alive
Lord knows it ain't easy
 
It's alright it's alright
From the Caribbean islands
To the wide Pacific skies
 
Hear the reggae man sing
No woman no cry
Every little thing is gonna be alright
Is gonna be alright
Every little thing
Every little thing is gonna be alright
 
 
 
The Rule of Law
 
So that's the way it is now
You can't believe what anybody says now
Y’all got an agenda everybody’s got a line
It’s all some kind of power play
And we’re all just seconds away
From some kind of thought crime
 
Closed ranks and off-shore banks
Just a puddle hopper away from hiding it all
You got the pilot and the gangster
The accountant and the lawyer
And they all got a politician in the pocket
Of their tropical Shirt
Gonna hide all the dirt
 
They say they follow the money
Yeah
But never all the way down the line
That’s where the sun never shines
At the end of the line
 
When the rule of law walks out the door
The devil walks in
 
And everyone’s corruptible and everyone’s a mule
If it’s plausibly deniable
Hell show me what the rule is
It’s not that I don’t remember I simply can’t recall
Doing seeing hearing saying anything at all
I simply can’t recall
 
When the rule of law walks out the door
The devil walks in
 
There ain’t no shame it’s just a game
It all paid off you made it back to the top
And you put all your guilt in a little old box
And you hide it away
But you see it in your eyes
When you’re hiding in plain sight
Plain enough for everyone to see
 
The rule of law walked out the door
And the devil walked in
Yeah the rule of law walked out the door
And the devil walked in
 
Put his feet up
And made himself at home
Right at home
 
So that’s the way it is now
That’s the way it is now
 
 
 
Capri
 
I hear Monaco has lost its style
Saint-Tropez ain't what it used to be
Let’s not talk about Capri
Let’s not talk about Capri
 
Ah the season
Rubbing shoulders with the tops and tails
Champagne caviar and cream teas
And all the crimes against humanity
 
But there’ll always be a flask of tea
For you and me
Somewhere by the sea
That’s all we’ll ever need
 
Saint Moritz has lost its glitz
Verbier’s so yesterday
And Aspen’s just a shadow
Of the place that it once was
 
The Biennale is under water
Cruise ship tsunami
There ain’t no way to stop the slaughter
It’s globalized
Mediocrity
 
But there’ll always be a flask of tea
For you and me
Somewhere by the sea
That’s all we’ll ever need
 
Yeah I hear Monaco has lost its style
And Saint-Tropez ain't what it used to be
Let’s not talk about Capri
Let’s not talk about Capri
 
 
 
 
How does it feel?
 
The grass is always greener on the other side
The grass is always greener on the other side
Now you’re on the other side
How does it feel right now
 
There’s always one more mountain that you’re gonna want to climb
It’s gonna be that way until the end of time
Until you realize they’re only mountains in your mind
How does it feel right now
 
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel right now
 
Clock in clock out
Twist and shout
Tune in tune out
All those years of saying
That you knew what it was all about
How does it feel right now
 
You were oh so certain
Oh so sure
With your 20 20 vision
Like you’d seen it all before
Now any ounce of credibility
Lies in tatters on the floor
How does it feel right now
 
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel right now
 
You got it coming man
You know you do
You’re running out of scoundrels who can squeeze you through
The net is closing and there’s nothing you can do
How does it feel right now
 
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel right now
 
 
 
 
My Kentucky Friends
 
I got a taste for the bourbon
Not sure where it’s gonna lead
I know I’m not charred in the same kind of fire
But the grass may well be as green
 
And I keep some songs for the angels
I gotta believe that they care
I sing my songs for the angels
I know they’ll be getting their share
 
And I keep a watch in the night
And I drink my whisky with ice
I may be a fool but I’m keeping it cool
With my Kentucky friends by my side
 
Yeah I got a taste for the bourbon
Blessed by the oak and the corn
I can’t tell you much but some lessons I’ve learned
I’ve been dying since the day I was born
 
And I keep some songs for the angels
I gotta believe that they care
I sing my songs for the angels
I know they’ll be getting their share
 
And I keep a watch in the night
And I drink my whisky with ice
I may be a fool but I’m keeping it cool
With my Kentucky friends by my side
 
I got a taste for the bourbon
Not sure where it’s gonna lead
I know I’m not charred in the same kind of fire
But the grass may well be as green
 
The bluegrass may well be as green
 
 
 
 
On the Radio
 
People talking on the radio
Just like they’re supposed to do
Cheerfully disguising all the sadness in their eyes
That you can’t see
On the radio
On the radio
 
Hold on to all the love you can get
Hold on
Hold on
To all the love you can get
 
As a red umbrella walks by
As a red umbrella walks by
Sometimes alone and sometimes side by side
With other kinds of umbrella
 
Hold on to all the love you can get
Hold on
Hold on
To all the love you can get
 
People talking on the radio
Just like they’re supposed to do
Cheerfully disguising all the sadness in their eyes
That you can’t see
On the radio
On the radio
 
 
The Tyranny of Certainty
 
It’s dark sometimes
Sometimes it’s dark
You’re alone sometimes
Sometimes you’re alone
 
I’m crazy
Crazy
Crazy crazy crazy
 
I’m crazy
Crazy crazy crazy
 
Can you see the light
The light of the sun
Can you hear the screams
The screams of everyone
 
I’m crazy
Crazy
Crazy crazy crazy
 
I’m crazy
Crazy crazy crazy
 
With the tyranny of certainty
Oh how happy you must be
 
The call of the wild
The wide open spaces
With the mind of a child
I go running to those places
 
I’m crazy
Crazy
Crazy crazy crazy
 
I’m crazy
Crazy crazy crazy
 
With the tyranny of certainty
Oh how happy you must be
 
 
 
All lyrics written by A.J. Jenkins
Copyright 2020:All rights reserved
 
 
 
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