Photosynthesis

Eugen Mondbasis

A man sat down underneath the great crown
Of an oak in the fields, laid his feet in Oak Creek
Lay his head on the trunk, watching the leaves in the sun
Listened to the bees and their hum, passed out on his rum

Thought about what he’s done  – after all these years gone
Can’t find nothing wrong but having written no song
Clapped the hand on his thigh, laughing – ‘I have done right
Maybe not always in time, but let the by-gones pass by’

It’s pushing me up so high
I know my heart’s alright
It’s all gonna be fine
But I ain’t coming back this time!

The man got up on his feet, staggered a bit in the wind
Blocked some thoughts crashing in, found the balance again
Shook his head to a sigh, put his arms in the sky
Said, ‘It is what it is, man needs photosynthesis!’

It’s pushing me up so high
I know my heart’s alright
It’s all gonna be fine
But I ain’t coming back this time!

Midsummer Field

Chris Houston

All alone in your house
you’re watching the birds
’till they all fly away down the street
The sun eats them up,
and you start to believe
they’re meeting their god in the sun
And all the beautiful ones that you’ve lost …

Did you cry all night long,
like a warm summer rain
Did your tears melt away in the moon
I bet that your colorful eyes
follow everyone leaving soon
All the beautiful ones that you’ve lost
as your fate turned around

Lay down those rocks, get the ties off your feet
chased by a storm in a midsummer field
If you don’t run away, the wind takes your soul
and one day you’ll die in your dream

As you cry all night long,
I stand outside in the rain
see its drips melt away in the moon
It seems that my black and blue eyes
are sleeping, dreaming of you
And the beautiful ones that you’ve lost
as your fate turned around

Lay down those rocks, get the ties off your feet
chased by a storm in a midsummer field
If you don’t run away, the wind takes your soul
and one day you’ll die in your dream

Lay down those rocks, cut the ties off your feet
chased by storm in your recurring dream
If you don’t run away, the wind keeps your soul
and one day you’ll die in your sleep

The Temptation of Superman

Chris Houston

Where do you intend to go?
The sky is clear, the full moon shows up
to guide you through the night
With its yellow sparkling glow

I had a bad dream
of you and Superman – it seemed
his body was full of power
and mine, it felt so weak

Intelligence was his name
And from outer space he came
shining in the pale moonlight
taking your soft hand

And with a grin he flew away
Hiding you in his arms
I cried and called your name, but it’s
obviously too late

Where do you intend to go?
The sky is clear, the full moon shows up
to guide you through the night
with its yellow sparkling light

Where do you intend to go?
The sky is clear, the full moon shows up
to guide you through the night
With its yellow sparkling glow

Joänne

Eugen Mondbasis

It ain’t got a vitamin but it’s good for your soul
Have at least some of the fries
You say you can´t eat since they let you know
But you won’t get him back by hunger-strike

Oh-oh Joänne, you’re already over it

You say you need some time on your own
But then it feels so lonesome when you’re coming home
You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul
You’re on my mind and you’re on my phone

Oh-oh Joänne, you’re already over it

Don’t regret what you have lost
Better you regret what you have won
The things that feel like they’re your own
Are not meant to be for anyone

Oh-oh Joänne, you’re already over it
Oh come on – you’re already over it

King of the Pines

Chris Houston

A village at the wild and rocky spines
800 feet above the ground
If you dont have a map, it’s hard to find
deeply hidden in a forest of pines

A small winding road
leads us down to the ground
covered with gravel and dirt
Only a few ever made the whole way
this place is too small to be found

Down in the valley the church bells ring
The birds and the sun disperse the mist
Page 309 of the songbook flips
Small leather boots hit the ground
And the boots do walk on,
step by step, towards town
And the King of the Pines
screams with deafening sound

Stone after stone, rolling on down
breaking their way, step by step, towards town
Rising high, leaving no trace
of the valley and the pines
and the King’s wooden crown

So finally that’s how this story ends
before it had even begun
The small leather boots were never found
just like the valley and the Pine King and his town

In Your Arms

Eugen Mondbasis

I dig myself a hole to get out of your view
It’s cosy and deniable, so I won’t have to move
I won’t breathe and I won’t sleep, even if I might get tired
If someone’s out to wash my brain, I’ll set myself on fire

Of all the places that I’ve seen – this is where I wanna be
Once you’ve taken off your shoes – It’s hard to put them back to use
All the people that I’ve seen – lovely, wise, crazy, mean
In your arms, they won’t get me down no more

Before you watch the time go by, it’s better to be blind
I rename the numbers, so no one’s right on time
And when I’m done with numbers, then I change the words
I forget my name and I’m forgetting yours

Chorus

All the things that we adore – whatever you are looking for
In your arms, it won’t let me down no more­

Rock Me On

Eugen Mondbasis

When its time to cry, don’t get off your bed
Shut down your doors and your windows
Don’t let no one in the black
Time to get drunk – damn! – whatever – get lost

Time to put on your shoes and take them off again
Then its time to disperse, let’s get back in the game
Leave it, change it, stop it
before you go insane

Ooh Baby, rock me on – I got a weary head
Ooh Baby, rock me on – ’cause the word is on the street
that you’re gonna leave me

When it’s time to feel good, don’t get off the grass
with a girl in your arms – time to stretch out your legs
Time to turn into gold
whatever you put in your hands

Chorus

Number Seven

Eugen Mondbasis

I’ve witnessed your worst hours
I’ve seen you losing power
I’ve experienced you as coward
I’ve seen you going downwards

I’ve seen you losing gravity
dangling on a string
Lumbering like a blind man
Catching his own dreams

But even in your fever
you seemed so much wiser
than the city and its monsters
that have now come to catch us

I’d seen your pale skin
And then it turned green
On the stage of an opera scene
The play drove you insane

Now you look like a king
With the hair full of ribbons
And all that you’re aiming for
Is to wipe out all that adds up to seven

Go Loose

Eugen Mondbasis

Come with me and drive the car – into the wall
Fly with me – and fall
Because we didn’t really mean to fall – at all

Just go loose sometimes
Go way too far

Go northwest or southeast – I don’t care –
as long as you steer
Kill someone on the road – just to know –
that you’re somewhere
Because we didn’t really mean to go – anywhere

Chorus

And you are not the only one
There’s probably some other women in this town
They’re gorgeous just like you
Shake their asses like you do – from what I’ve seen
But somehow I chose you and you – chose me

Chorus

World Aflame

Eugen Mondbasis

I swear I’ve lost my mind
‘Cause I’m having a hard time
finding what’s left of it
How could I ever get rid of it

When I close my eyes
I see a black sky, shadow of a red fire
There are too many questions,
just a handfullof answers
and they’re all the same

And if you get lost, what can I do
I sparely well come through

And the price that you pay
for your little and useless knowledge
is your youth and your light-hearted way
to get through this life

Chorus

War Sings a Song

Armstrong, Houston, Mondbasis

Out in the fields he played hide and seek
With the boys from next door
His Dad looked through him to the mountain peak
Clad in a costume of war

For all the letters he wrote in his shack
The bleakest place under the sun
Still one morning his boy was found dead
Shot with a father’s gun

Every morning in the hollow
You sing my song and beat my black drums
And every path that you’ll ever follow
Pulls you back into my arms

Eyes wide shut the crow sits in the nest
Thinks to himself, ‘I won’t die’
A whizzing bullet runs through his neck
Turns his last thoughts into a lie

Chorus

Endless Tune

Eugen Mondbasis

I can hear the black night
It’s humming a little tune
just for you
And it goes so slow
If you lived a hundred years
you could only hear
one little note

And on the river side
I spread my arms into the night
the warm summer night
I know you’ll be alright
in the arms of everyone alive
and everyone who died
In the busy and the slow times

I believe it, and I repeat It

Now two minutes pass
another two come soon
There’s no way to stop it
I’ve always presumed

I’ll repeat it till I believe it
You are fine, You’re alright

Now this planet turns around the sun
and even the sun will one day be gone

Devil’s Got a Piece of Us

Eugen Mondbasis

Pour
Another glass
Just like the last
Forget your future and
Forget your past

Devil’s got a piece of us
Devil’s got a piece of us… all

Winter city
Streets in the dark
One office light
If you have work then you stay out late

Devil’s got a piece of us
Devil’s got a piece of us… all

Bridge up the hill
The city mirrors stars
Things are so different
They all get one if you just go far enough

Devil’s got a piece of us
Devil’s got a piece of us
Devil’s got a piece of us all

Tom Waits

Chris Houston

Tom waits at the door as you step out
Watch his hair shake
Skin and bone, pale white, scared words
He’s in a hurry and obviously he raves

No time to be lost
No question at all
Quick, fast, move away far
Far away from that town
Where you grew up (lived in)
In his getaway car

Joan’s at his side
The soft side
And at the same time she’s still
Quiet as the night
In the snow-white dark
And the red liqueur that kills

No time to be lost …

Do you wanna stay in your home town
Where you was born?
Or do you wanna leave this safe place
So colourful?
You don’t wanna stay
No, you don’t wanna stay

Tom waits at the shore as you step out
Watch his hair blow
Strong wind, small storm, little light in Joan’s hand
And slowly you grow old

No time to be lost …

Do you wanna stay in your home town
Where you was born?
Or do you wanna leave this safe place
So colourful?
You don’t wanna stay
No, you don’t wanna stay

The Internist

Eugen Mondbasis

Squeeze my eyeballs
Until all I can see is black
Cut my fingers
Cut my arms and my legs

Loosen this weird knot
Wrapped around my head
Pull my heart out
Slice it carefully into bags

Put each piece on the scales
Give it a number or a Latin word
Rearrange them
In the way you prefer

Bring in cold water
Put in salt, cocaine and soap
Boil it gently
Until there’s white crystal smoke

Wash my thoughts out
Keep the water locked
Shave my hair off
Keep it in a dream-safe box

Go and see if there is a soul
And if – quickly, don’t let it go cold
Go and see if there is a soul
And if – quickly, don’t let it go cold

Top of a Tree

Eugen Mondbasis

There’s the moonlight reflecting in your eyes
There’s a bridge crossing the water to the stars
There’s just enough people to observe
Standing aimless and causeless on the coast

I’m sitting in that tree, my feet are dangling with the bees
They bumble a song of peace
And all my worries gone awhile
When I think of your calm warm smile

I’ve been sitting all day in the top of the tree
Watching the waves on the sea
I’ve been waiting all night long for the morning to come
And if I get bored I get home
Tu tu tu…

And if someone asked, where have you been?
I’d answer, I tried to be a better man
And it worked out for one whole day
I’ve been between the earth and milky way

I’ve been sitting all day in the top of the tree
Watching the waves on the sea
I’ve been waiting all night long for the morning to come
And if I get bored I get home
Tu tu tu…

Roll On Blues

Eugen Mondbasis

Train keep on rollin’, got a hole in my soul
Wherever my love falls to, it is out of control
Train keep on rollin’, the night is so cold
I know a couple of people only waiting to get old

Roll roll roll
Roll on

Rain keep on fallin’ to the rhythm of the train
Fall down on me, fall down on Jane
Rain keep on fallin’, blur the trouble, ease the pain
You came a long way to go down in the drain

Roll roll roll
Roll on
Roll roll roll
Roll on
Water keep on flowin’, take the blues with you
Wash out all the dust, make the ocean blue
Water keep on flowin’, wherever you flow to
Wash out all the dust, make the ocean blue

In the Garden

Chris Houston

You are hopeless now
Spiders crawling everywhere
And you can’t get out
‘Cause you’re
Lost inside yourself

How can you
Be hopeless so long?
Can’t we
Just break free for an hour?
Here in the garden

You are hopeless now
Spiders crawling everywhere
And you can’t break out
‘Cause you’re
Locked inside yourself

How can you
Be hopeless so long?
Can’t we
Just break free for an hour?
Here in the garden

We Don’t Care

Eugen Mondbasis

Sunlight morning, get the the time to its worth
Some folks get rich today with other people’s work
And while the money’s all floatin’ down the curb
We don’t care
We don’t care

And every coin that your crises lose
It’s a good sign, it’s a gain for us
Ever since you say that time’s been rough
We don’t care
We don’t care

You can’t love a life that was made out of dust
You can’t love someone if he’s hard to trust
You can’t catch a man who’s right about to fall
You can’t have it all

Soft rain afternoon, the sum is fine
Could be a little more, but not in these times
What you lose, it’s always hard to define
We don’t care
We don’t care

You can’t love a life that was made out of dust
You can’t love someone if he’s hard to trust
You can’t catch a man who’s right about to fall
You can’t have it all

Days to Live

Eugen Mondbasis

The naked man calls all his friends
To be silent about the time and the place
And his friends do what they’re friends for
They clean all the windows
They forget to close the side doors

Nephews, uncle, brother, sister
Babies crying, mothers whisper
And everybody’s got his place in the mass
The preacher is the only one who never has confessed

Hey, you’ve got a love to hide
Days to live and days to die
The more you sort the more you die

He never lived to do no bad
The priest pulls out a cigarette
A single man can’t be a couple
But God spread all His love and the man got into trouble

Hey, you’ve got a love to hide
Days to live and days to die
The more you sort the more you die

Blue lights flashing through the trees
A stroller can’t believe what he sees
If your friends ever take a walk through the woods
A rope, a bible, used condoms, fresh air is good

Cross the River

Chris Houston, Eugen Mondbasis

It’s a good way
To cross the river right here
You go there
And I’ll wait here

Maybe you come back
And if you don’t
I’ll wait here till I grow old

The river it flows beneath my toes
The river it runs, the river it’s close
I admit we’re stuck somewhere on the road

But Baby, what we’ve found is better
Than gold

I think it’s time
For you to walk your own trail
And I believe
That we will meet another day
Last night in my dreams
I heard myself sing

Tomorrow you come back
And if you don’t
I’ll wait here till I grow old

Maybe you come back
And if you don’t
I’ll wait here till I grow old

Baby, what we found is better
Baby, what we found is better
Baby, what we found is better
Than gold

Boogeyman

Chris Houston

‘Cross the hill there’s my hotelroom
I live there alone
I’ve seen you come from there
then you were gone
Last night, the battle with the clowns
thought you were there
Tasted your sweet voice
grabbed the smell of your hair

There is loneliness
hiding in your prayers
Thrown into the crowd
laughing to yourself
Sweet, tender, soft, proven bodies
Instead we’re gonna find them, weeping a child’s prayer

And the day isn’t long enough
water’s runnin’ down your hair
We reached for places where they broke your golden chair
Fights would be welcome here
though we head back instead
Boogeyman closes in on us
But it seems that you don’t care

There is loneliness
hiding in your prayers
Thrown into the crowd
laughing to yourself
Sweet, tender, soft, proven bodies
Instead we’re gonna find them, weeping a child’s prayer

And the day isn’t long enough
water’s runnin’ down your hair
We reached for places where they broke your golden chair
Fights would be welcome here
though we head back instead
Boogeyman closes in on us
But it seems that you don’t care

Right Before Our Eyes

Chris Houston

We play high, we play low
We play with fire, we play with souls
We steal light, we still miss
We steal hearts, we still kiss

We ride home through the praries
We run dry and no one cares
You’re better off, someone says
Don’t look back – a day ends

Oh ……… well
Right before our eyes

We had it all, and we lost
No one left out here to trust
With the last power we defend
What was ours – a day ends

Oh ……… well
Right before our eyes

We play high, we play low
We play with fire, we play with souls
We steal light, we still miss
We steal hearts, we still kiss

Oh ……… well
Right before our eyes

No Direction Home

Chris Houston

When it’s cold outside and your river dried
And you can’t explain how you felt
Then come to me to my bright and warm place
And together we will fight

When it’s warm outside and your river pours
Miss please spell out how you felt
Then leave me here in this cold and dark room
And without you I must stand the night

There’s no direction home
Just a vast blue stone
And you will fall over that stone one day
And you`ll be all alone

When it’s cold outside and my river dried
And I can’t explain how I feel
Then I’ll come back to you to your bright warm place
And together we’ll make it through

There’s no direction home
Just a vast blue stone
And we will fall over that stone one day
And we’ll be all alone

There ain’t no direction home
Just one giant stone
Somehow I fell over that stone today
And I am almost gone

The Hiker

Eugen Mondbasis

You can look down in the valley
From behind the timberline
A plane across the scenery
Leaving a thin white line

Clouds keep swifting
Up upon the sky
I’m counting things that won’t have changed
Long before I die

And that little creek keeps floating
Its waves keep rolling
The world keeps turning
And no one is complaining

And the sun keeps shining
And the rain keeps falling
People go to work
Every single morning

They fall in love
With each one another
Still everyone’s arranged
To have a mother and a father

And on top of that mountain
Say out your name
To me it always felt
Frightfully trivial

You have a good heart
You have a good soul
And your brain does
What it was made for

So look me in the eyes
Like that I’d spend hours
Without any heading
I’m traveling through open space

How far can you go
Without the stars’ end
Break free
It’s infinity
Inside yourself